I made him take the road ahead of me, and we started on our way for Jacksonville.  After we had gone some two miles in the direction of Canyonville an old gentleman and his son overhauled us with a wagon, and I had the old man put the handcuffs on him, after which I allowed him to get into the wagon with the other two men and ride to Canyonville.  When I put him in the little lock-up which they had there for such occasions and went and hunted up the constable and asked him to look after Barton until I would return.  I could get no satisfaction from him, so I went to a merchant in town and related the whole circumstance to him and asked him to keep a watch or tell me of some one whom I could hire to look after him that I could rely upon.  He assured me that he would look after a man, put him there to watch and then we would be sure that he would be safe.  I then mounted my horse and was off for Buckley, who I found without difficulty, arrested him, and started on my way back to Canyonville.

He came so near admitting the crime that I was sure I had the two guilty men.  I got back with my prisoner just in time to take the stage for Jacksonville.  Leaving my horse at the livery stable, I instructed the liveryman to send him at once to Jacksonville and I would pay all charges.  I handcuffed both prisoners and had them shackled together, put them in the stage and started to Jacksonville with them.  I wired the sheriff that I had both of the guilty parties and would be at Jacksonville on the stage, which was due about six o’clock the next morning.

The sheriff and his deputies met us that morning at the edge of town.  It had been noised around that I would be in and they were somewhat afraid of a mob, but we succeeded in getting to the jail all safe, and not until then had I the faintest idea that I had stepped beyond my official duty in arresting those men without a warrant and bringing them into another county.

These were the first white prisoners that I had ever had any experience with.  I had taken so many Indian prisoners that never required any red tape, I naturally supposed that the same rule would be applicable in this case, but I got away with it just the same.  That afternoon we took the young man off to himself, and when he was questioned by the district attorney and a certain doctor, whose name has slipped my memory, he admitted the whole affair, and told us just where to go to find McMahon’s body.  When he told us this the doctor drew a diagram of the ground.  Buckley said we would find a tree a certain distance from the cabin that had been blown out by the roots, and in that hole we would find the body covered up with brush and chips thrown on top of the brush.  After giving this valuable information we at once started out to hunt for the body.